Ko-Sho in Northside appears to have closed. Signage is gone, and the space looks to be completely vacated. I was a fan of the downtown location years back and was excited when I heard they were moving to Northside, but it unfortunately was worse in just about every way. We haven't been back in years.

I attempted to try Habesha (an Ethiopian restaurant on the West side) last weekend, but their Sunday hours of operation are incorrect on both Yelp and their own site. I arrived around 6:15 P.M. for dinner, only to find that they had been closed for 15 minutes.

So ****tybeat mentioned Ali Baba's, which I'd never heard of before, and since it's on the east side...sort of...and I had a taste for a gyro I thought I'd give it a try.

I like my gyros with just tzatziki sauce, so I ordered one of those and a six-piece falafel to go.

I think I've only had falafel once so I'm in no way an authority on it, but I thought they were excellent. I started nibbling on them in the car and I finished them at home (they gave me a side of tzataiki to dip it in). Almost like a hush puppy in texture but much more flavorful.

Then I got home and had the gyro. I was very pleased. It's about as good as Chicago Gyros, which is my favorite in the city (and no, I haven't ventured over the much-acclaimed Sebastian's). They do a great job with the pita, getting just a touch of oil on it and frying it so has just a little crispiness to it. The meat was outstanding, and they give you quite a bit, and the sauce was excellent. The sauce had little chunks of dill in it and had a hint of garlic, just like CG's.

It was $10.49 for all I got and I was stuffed. It's on Red Bank Road about a mile south of I-71.

There are two really great things about Ali Babas that differentiate them from most other gyro joints about town

First, while many gyro joints have gyro meat on a spit, Ali Baba's also has a chicken schwarma spit, and I have to say I've not had a better schwarma elsewhere

Second, they have a lot more options in regards to what they can and will put on your gyro (or scharma, or falafel, etc) that most other greek places around town

Most places have tomato, onion, and tzaziki - thats it. Maybe cucumbers too in some cases.

Ali Baba has feta, roasted red peppers, eggplant, olives, and many other toppings and if I understand things correctly these are all FREE to add to your pita sandwich.

I second your recommendation

We went to Ali Baba for the first time last night, and while I agree that the food and variety of toppings was quite good, the service was absolutely abysmal. There were maybe a dozen people in the restaurant when we arrived around 7:30, and it took 30 minutes (I timed it) for them to bring out our chicken and steak schwarma platters. The couple in front of us also waited 30 minutes for their to-go order. I assume by the good reviews here and elsewhere that this isn't the norm, but it didn't make for a very good first impression.

On a side note, there were flyers in the restaurant stating that they will be changing their name to Durum Grill, and "may" close for remodeling. There was no mention of an ownership change, though.

--It has been pointed out in the Cincinnati Chili tour thread that Queen City Cookies has gone out of business

--I was driving down Hamilton Avenue this weekend and just south of Compton there was a clearly an open business with the sign "Goodies BBQ". Is this the same business and/or operators that had closed some time back, only relocated? west siders, report in :-)

--The Anderson Bar and Grill on Beechmont is definitely under remodeling, as is the old Perkins that was most recently a very bad chinese joint. Don't know what they will turn out to be just yet.

--Has anyone eaten at the BBQ trailer that is parked on Madison in Madisonville that is open erratically, perhaps once every two weeks? The trailer seems to be parked permanently there, but it is very very rarely open, and I drive by it twice a day during the week

The reviews for Lavomatic were usually quite bad, but Local 127 was a pretty good restaurant, so I am a little sad about that. Local 127 was in a prime location downtown so I am all but certain someone will open a new eatery (preferably not a chain, except maybe Chik-Fil-A) there fairly soon.

--I was driving down Hamilton Avenue this weekend and just south of Compton there was a clearly an open business with the sign "Goodies BBQ". Is this the same business and/or operators that had closed some time back, only relocated? west siders, report in :-)

--It has been pointed out in the Cincinnati Chili tour thread that Queen City Cookies has gone out of business

--I was driving down Hamilton Avenue this weekend and just south of Compton there was a clearly an open business with the sign "Goodies BBQ". Is this the same business and/or operators that had closed some time back, only relocated? west siders, report in :-)

--The Anderson Bar and Grill on Beechmont is definitely under remodeling, as is the old Perkins that was most recently a very bad chinese joint. Don't know what they will turn out to be just yet.

--Has anyone eaten at the BBQ trailer that is parked on Madison in Madisonville that is open erratically, perhaps once every two weeks? The trailer seems to be parked permanently there, but it is very very rarely open, and I drive by it twice a day during the week

Anderson Bar & Grill is remodeling and is changing its name slightly but I can't remember what to. I wish them luck but that's a tough location and Varsity is doing quite nicely right behind them.

There was an article saying Arthur's was opening a second location in the old Perkin's in the spring, but it doesn't look like anything has been done there.

wesleymanAlso, I have heard we are getting a Dewey's somewhere in Anderson Township.

The West side is getting one as well, although construction on the shopping center (at Harrison and Westwood-Northern) that will house them was delayed by about a year. It's scheduled to open in April 2015 now, along with a Graeter's, First Watch, and Tom + Chee.

Speaking of delays, Raising Cane's is now also looking at an early 2015 opening. They bought out the Five Guys on Tylersville Road about a year ago, and it's been more or less untouched ever since. According to a recent Enquirer article, they "ran into some developmental issues that slowed things down," but they envision "having three Cincinnati-area restaurants open by the end of 2015. The franchise's real estate development team is still scouting locations for the other two sites." They are still my favorite fast food chain, hands down.

I noted elsewhere in these forums that a lot of people seem to really like the Home Run Inn brand of frozen pizzas.

I noticed about a month ago that this pizza was being sold at Jungle Jims, and more recently I have found it in local Kroger's stores

The pies usually run 9 dollars each, but Krogers had a special for 7 dollars, so I picked one up. I'd say this is pretty good for a frozen pizza, but it was still not very impressive, especially for the price.

Jack may have mentioned this on Chowhound rather than here (not sure) but he recently praised the pork sandwich (pork with broc rabe and sharp provolone) at the Eagle in OTR as the best he had ever had

I decided to take that sandwich out for a test drive tonight to see how it compared to the roast pork italian in Philly (DiNics, Johns Roast Pork, and Tony Luke's, to name a few) and I have to say it was pretty darned good but not quite as good as the similar sandwiches in Philly. It was a notably more expensive (online menus say 8 bucks, but they are charging 9 bucks at present ala carte), the cheese less sharp, the pork not as juicy, and no pronounced garlic flavor (although they dont mention garlic in the description, I include it for comparison since it is otherwise very much ingredient-wise like the roast pork italian sandwiches in Philly)

I need to also mention that in Philly when I encountered sharp provolone, it was a very crumbly cheese, but the cheese topping this sandwich was a large slice or two, more like regular provolone, and the taste was far closer to regular provolone than sharp provolone

Note: It you dont like hot peppers or mayo, ask for those on the side or off entirely, they were very accomodating to me on those two counts. The mayo isn't even in the description on the menu.

Still, a pretty darned good sandwich, even at the 9 dollar price point

TJ JacksonI noted elsewhere in these forums that a lot of people seem to really like the Home Run Inn brand of frozen pizzas.

I noticed about a month ago that this pizza was being sold at Jungle Jims, and more recently I have found it in local Kroger's stores

The pies usually run 9 dollars each, but Krogers had a special for 7 dollars, so I picked one up. I'd say this is pretty good for a frozen pizza, but it was still not very impressive, especially for the price.

Jungle Jim's now has frozen pizzas from Nick and Vito's, which is a Chicago place. I think they're really good for frozen, but regular price is $10 for about a 30 oz. pie. However, like with bread and milk, JJ's never charges full price for them, and they go on sale for as cheap as $7 (this week they're $9).

Unfortunately that's still a lot for a brand most people around here have never heard of, so I wonder how long they're continue to carry them.

I now work just a mile or so from Quatmans, and today I finally made my way in there

Had a truly excellent cheeseburger - they can and will cook to temp if asked if it isn't too busy in there - and some very good chili, which I should note isn't a cincinnati style chili and does include beans

We didn't make it to Doughby's this weekend, but I gather that there is another one in Oxford. Bonk, have you been?

I have also heard rave reviews about Pieology from a few people, so that's now on my list as well.

The UC/Clifton area lost several restaurants over the past couple of months, including Five Guys (which shocks me), Fire House Subs, Mediterranean Foods, Thai Cafe, and Olives (which is being revamped as a bar and music venue called Live at the Ludlow Garage).

"Milford staff has been working to lure them to a new location in Milford and they have a tentative agreement with Cincinnati United Contractors for a building that could be built for them on Chamber Drive near the Milford Parkway in Milford." The Milford Planning Commission approved a site plan Aug. 13 submitted by Cincinnati United Contractors to build a nearly 2,900-square-foot building for Roney's.

Aug. 31 will be the last day for the vegetarian-friendly restaurant, known for its soups and its recipes from Greece and around the world. Until then, Hancock said they will be making customer favorites, including different types of hummus and popular soups; check the restaurant's Facebook page to see specials.

Sad, but not unexpected. The building has been listed for sale on the MLS for some time now.

Also, today and tomorrow are the last two days of Downtown Cincinnati Restaurant Week. We finally went to Jimmy G's last night, which was a mixed bag. The beef tenderloin, naan (part of the bread basket), and desserts (I went with the yuzu/lime custard, my wife did the chocolate amaretto mousse) were excellent, but the Caesar salad and mac & cheese (which several Yelp reviewers rave about) were average at best. There was also a family of four who treated our dining area like their family dining room, but the servers and sommelier were quite attentive to the husband in particular, so I get the feeling that I "should" have known who he was.

We tried Pieology for dinner last night, in Clifton on McMillan right by Lime (within about 100 feet of both Pomodori and Adriatico's). There is one pizza size (11" thin crust) and two price points, $6.00 for a cheese pizza, or $7.35 for as much as you want of everything else (a gluten-free crust is also available as an upcharge). There are three base sauce options (red, olive oil, herb butter), four cheese options, and about 25 meat and vegetable options (including some "after the bake" like roasted red peppers and pesto, which weren't obvious, as I would have added pesto if I had known). They also offer salads, which wasn't entirely obvious, either. Finally, there is no alcohol on the menu, which probably has Pomodori and Adriatico's breathing a bit easier.

The pie is built right in front of you in a Chipotle-like assembly line (they borrow heavily from Chipotle...the restaurant layout, the furnishings, even the logo and fonts) and is then thrown in a wood-fired oven for a few minutes. Our three pizzas were ready less than five minutes after we paid at the register. I went with red sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, garlic, basil, and pepperoni on mine, and was pretty pleased for the price. The ricotta didn't melt particularly well, but still tasted fine, as did the sauce and other toppings. (I would have added sausage if it didn't look like frozen pellets.) The crust is unfortunately the weak spot, although I wonder if its flavor might have been improved a bit if I had them brush it with the herb butter before adding the red sauce. Their slicing technique also needs work, as we had to grab knives and forks to separate a few slices on each of the three pies.

As far as wood-fired pizzas go, it's no A Tavola, but for the price and promptness, I think it's worth it.

No, I'd never heard of Doughby's. It must be pretty new -- we go up during hockey season and I don't remember it being there in March. I've been saying for years that it amazes me a town packed with a huge population of college students from the Chicago and Cleveland areas doesn't have a good pizza place.

We'll have to give it a shot this fall.

Three locations: Oxford, Clifton and downtown Lexington. I see a theme here.

"Milford staff has been working to lure them to a new location in Milford and they have a tentative agreement with Cincinnati United Contractors for a building that could be built for them on Chamber Drive near the Milford Parkway in Milford." The Milford Planning Commission approved a site plan Aug. 13 submitted by Cincinnati United Contractors to build a nearly 2,900-square-foot building for Roney's.

We did an Arthur's trip a couple of weeks ago and it was awesome. You've got to love a place that offers rare as an option for burger doneness.

We tried the fried cheese, although I was a little hesitant when I saw they were beer battered because some places overdo it on the batter. But these had a flaky breading and were some of the best cheesesticks I've ever had.

We also tried the buffalo chicken bites, which are deep fried wontons with buffalo chicken inside. These ranking almost as high as the cheesesticks.

And of course the burgers were excellent. That was the only thing I'd ever tried at the Hyde Park location, so I knew those wouldn't disappoint.

With two appetizers, one cocktail for Mrs. Bonk, an iced tea for myself and two burgers, our bill was $47, which is not bad, and we had leftovers.

The staff was very attentive, although I think I asked for bacon on my burger and didn't get it (I had mushrooms and Swiss, so it was still fine like that).

The only thing I would say is get there early. We arrived at 3:55 on a Saturday (they open at 4 right now) and by the time we left there wasn't any more seating left. The dining area isn't that big, so I'm sure the waits at 5:30 on a Saturday after pretty painful.

Overall I'm giddy that we have a good non-chain restaurant in our area.

I also tried Eastside Café Version 2.0 about 10 days ago. I went once and even though I thought they were opening around Labor Day, I got there and they said they weren't opening until the next day (this was somewhere around the 12th or 13th of September). Then I went back a few days later at about 4:45 and the sign on the door said they were open until 4 for the time being.

So the third time was a charm. I went for a light lunch and ordered a couple of conies. The cook was gabbing with other people and it took 10 minutes to get conies, which is kind of mind-boggling. I asked if they had a paper menu to take with and they said they were out.

Seriously, if you're a new business, how do you run out of menus? If I was running a new food business I'd send every customer away with one. And if you run out, go to your computer and print more.

But anyway, the conies weren't bad; I think the last place in that spot had a little better chili.

It definitely seems like they're having some growing pains based on just my brief experiences. Unfortunately that's a really tough location, so I really hope they get it together and can make it work there.

I'll definitely give it another shot, especially because some of the menu items are intriguing.

There have definitely been some growing pains. But the owner is doing well in putting out fires and getting the right staff in place. Some of the original staff may not have been the best fit. Thanks for checking it out.

I liked it a bit better than Pizzeliis, which has really gone downhill quality-wise while the prices continue to rise and the topping portions continue to fall. Crust and sauce both were both slightly better than Pizzeliis, and pricing is a lot better.

Like a lot of these new fast-casual joints, they have a Chipotle-like ordering and payment setup

Worth a try if you're feeling like pizza and in the area, but yes, this is absolutely a chain designed for unlimited duplication

I am not the world's greatest aficionado of ribs, so take this for what it is worth, but I had some ribs today that I consider to be the equal of Just Q'in in Newtown, and maybe (need to do a comparison soon) just maybe a bit better, actually

If they weren't the best ribs I have ever had in this area, they were no worse than second best ever

This was my first stop at this place, which is a tiny old Trailer with the name "Scotts" on the side parked in an abandoned parking lot on Reading Road in Roselawn, directly across the street from Amma's Vegetarian Indian Restaurant. The menu is on a board on the side of the trailer, and they did not have a paper menu I could take with me. I asked about their hours, and was told they are at this location Wed - Sat 11am to 6pm, somewhat weather dependent. After checking out the menu, I chose a half-slab of ribs (10.50 with a couple of slices of generic grocery store white bread thrown in) and a side of macaroni and cheese (2.25 for any of about a half dozen sides)

They claim they grill the ribs, and that may be true, but they tasted and looked smoked to me. Definitely pink smoke ring was detectable. The meat was very tender, lots of flavor, and plentiful - I have never had so much meat on a rib before in my life. Unlike with some ribs, you can definitely tell you are eating pork. The meat does not fall of the bone, you bite it off, and the bitemark is visible. The rub is nice, but I don't have the palate to tell you what was in it. The ribs came sauced, and I do not know if you can ask for sauce on the side or not or if they are presauced. Their sauce is tomato-based, right about the same consistency as ketchup, maybe slightly thinner. Their standard sauce is mild and on the sweet side, which I know will be a minus for some of you, but the flavor was flat-out excellent. I tried a little bit of their hot bbq sauce as well, and it had a less sweet, somewhat sour/vinegary taste, so I dont think it is their sweet sauce with just some spices added

The mac and cheese was good but otherwise unremarkable. I will try the green bean or one of the other sides along with a quarter chicken (around 4 bucks) next time